Latest Posts by inspireme-to-write - Page 2

Writing Prompt #426: Write This Story

Time stopped for a moment before it sputtered back to life, like a flickering candle.

Writing Prompts #463: Write This Story

“In about three seconds you’re going to hear a very loud noise. Do not be alarmed.”

Writing Exercises #30

Pick two strangers in public and write about how they interact with each other.

Writing Prompt #498: Write This Story

Everything was carved out of marble. From the columns that held up the ceiling to the glistening floors. Even the tables that lined the halls were all swirling shades of white and blue.

Writing Prompt #540: Write This Story

He woke up with a headache, two pairs of broken glasses, and one shoe. He didn’t wear glasses, and the shoe wasn’t his, so this presented him with something of a conundrum.

#611

You’re a private detective and have just been hired to find a serial killer on the loose. People are impressed with your insight about the case, and your innate ability to sense what will happen next. This is because you’re the killer.

#683

“Look. If this is gonna happen then you need to do it. I can’t risk getting stabbed again. I just can’t.”

“Wait, AGAIN?”

One Word Writing Prompts

Send me a number 1 thru 50 for a word that I’ll use to write either a headcanon, drabble, or starter. Send 🌀 for a random number instead.

01. — first 02. — kiss 03. — final 04. — numb 05. — broken 06. — wings 07. — melody 08. — rules 09. — chocolate 10. — nostalgia 11. — heartbeat 12. — stranger 13. — confusion 14. — bitter 15. — afterlife 16. — daybreak 17. — audience 18. — endless 19. — fireworks 20. — wishing 21. — birthday 22. — tomorrow 23. — oppression 24. — agony 25. — return 26. — protection 27. — boxes 28. — hope 29. — preparation 30. — beautiful 31. — lies 32. — underneath 33. — hide 34. — diary 35. — unforeseen 36. — conditional 37. — gone 38. — clear 39. — heartache 40. — wired 41. — insanity 42. — foolish 43. — words 44. — study 45. — love 46. — skies 47. — stars 48. — lucky 49. — shake 50. — punctual

31 Horrific Days [October Writing Challenge]

So it’s still September, BUT the month of Halloween is quickly approaching and I figured some people may like to get a head start on this so they have things to post! Here are 31 prompts for writing, one for each day of October. Skip any days that irk you or that you just don’t have the time and energy for, but feel free to use the tag #31horrificdays so others can see your work! As always, the prompts are up for interpretation and are meant to inspire a plot rather than dictate how it goes - all fandoms, original characters, or even a changing cast is more than welcome! [I may do a part 2 of vague, one-word prompts for those who want something more flexible].

The character goes out on a date (or an outing with a friend) and comes home late that night to see all of their furniture moved/stacked oddly, rotten food in the fridge, but no signs of entry or security issues.

The character learns through conversation that one of their friends hates Halloween.

The character is distressed from several nights of nightmares/sleep paralysis, all of which leave them waking up terrified. Eventually, what they see in their dreams start to blend into reality.

Write a story about supernatural happenings.. from the POV of a character’s pet.

Write a story about a character receiving threatening letters in the mailbox that keep getting scarier and more dangerous every day through the month.

The character, along with one or more others, decide to visit a local haunted house attraction that’s just opened up.

Halloween is rolling around and an odd fair has come to town with all manner of old-fashioned clowns, fire-eaters, and jugglers. The character(s) get their hands on tickets to see the show and cannot resist.

After hearing about an abandoned house in the neighborhood that was supposedly the scene of a gruesome crime years earlier, the character and a friend or two decide to explore the property.

A fun, creepy night of urban exploration gets the character(s) into trouble.

While spending some time at the beach at night, the character comes across something else moving near the shore, something that may or may not be human at all.

The character didn’t plan on any costume for Halloween this year, but their best friend/partner wants to go shopping for the perfect costumes, perhaps even as a themed pair.

Write a plot about a character meeting a fae creature, but realizing they aren’t as pretty and delicate as the fairy tales made them believe.

After watching a horror movie, the character claims there weren’t scared at all. However, once the house is quiet and dark, they’re suddenly hiding under their covers in fear.

With Halloween approaching, weird people have been hanging around town. Very weird people. ‘People in masks standing outside of houses’ weird people, including the character’s house.

Two character end up in a battle over which is better: ghostly horror movies or monster movies?

After the death of a friend or family member, the character (and possibly one or a few others) finds a hidden trap door in their home while cleaning out their belongings. Inside, they uncover secrets the deceased was hiding.

The character makes a new friend who claims to be an actual witch. They end up proving it to them with an impressive display of magic (if the preferred character is actually a witch, feel free to change the POV)

The character ends up locked in another reality where everything around them is just a bit ‘off’, as well as the fact that no one seems to recognize them. Then they meet one other character who does remember them, and appears to be going through the same thing.

The character has a run-in with someone from their past; someone they know for a fact has been dead for years.

The character has had a near-death experience, and is seeing a few moments between worlds before they’re brought back to life.

The character(s) have a run-in with an odd trick-or-treater a week before Halloween, but the eerie child refuses to leave their doorstep

The character, along with one other, travels to the Suicide Forest in Japan (or another famous haunted wilderness of writer’s choice) and uncovers something grisly, or perhaps even gets lost and disoriented. 

The muse meets up with an old friend or family member, and together they find home videos from their childhood Halloweens. This could be either a heartwarming experience, or an eerie one if they see something spooky they didn’t remember from their past.

The character starts a brand new job, but quickly learns that there are warnings that come with the job. No wonder they can’t keep employees for more than a few days.

The character (one or more others are optional as well) has been kidnapped and locked in a cellar, trying to find the means of escape.

Write a ghost story including any characters of your choice, with one twist: the story takes place in a past decade or century.

The character has just moved to a new city and isn’t familiar with anyone or anything. As they’re taking a walk late at night to relieve their stress, they have an eerie feeling that they’re being followed down every block.

Write a horror plot centered around a gas station (petrol station).

The character lost a beloved pet a year earlier, and finally decides it’s time to bring home a new shelter pet to love. They’re magnetically drawn to one animal in particular, but once they take it home, they start to suspect that this animal may not be ordinary at all.

Write a story from the perspective of a legendary monster (lagoon creature, zombie, sea monster, yeti, etc)

It’s Halloween night - write a story about a costume party or get-together going terribly wrong.

I feel like when you’re writing, organizing chapters and dialogue is easy

but jfc, the amount of time it takes to constantly keep people moving and make sure they’re in the right spaces and trying to come up with wording for it is always such a shock. 

Like, fuck, I made you pick up a coffee cup, you need to put it down at some point. also I can’t remember what I dressed you in, can you push up your sleeves? I don’t remember if you even have your shirt on.

and YOU. YOU OVER THERE, you got out of your chair earlier, but did you come back yet? Are you coming back? Where did you even go and why’d you get up? Fuck, I can’t make you sit down again already, you just stood up, go…over there. go get more coffee. Did you bring your mug with you? fine. bring the pot to the table and—wait, wasn’t the coffee pot already over here? shit, hold on, I need to go back and re-read and re-write

If you’re not in a group and you want to learn how to write characters in that group respectfully and realistically

1. Read media by people in the group. Fiction, nonfiction, blog posts – anything from “how my day went today” to 300-page epic adventure novels to history pamphlets. (By people in the group, not just about them. This is important.)

2. Google “How not to write a [the group] character” because the odds are that at least a few people in the group have written blog entries rattling off all their least favorite tropes representing their demographic. I’ve seen lesbians writing about how not to write lesbians, Asians talking about offensively-written Asians, etc. Refraining from writing the overused, negative, one-dimensional tropes listed in posts like this is probably a good start.

I made these as a way to compile all the geographical vocabulary that I thought was useful and interesting for writers. Some descriptors share categories, and some are simplified, but for the most part everything is in its proper place. Not all the words are as useable as others, and some might take tricky wording to pull off, but I hope these prove useful to all you writers out there!

(save the images to zoom in on the pics)

Another Halloween themed post.

Part I: Superstitions

GHOSTS AND SPIRITS

Iron and Ghosts

The Early Ghost

Guide to Ghosts

Ghosts

Gravestone Symbolism

10 Little Known Mysterious Ghost Types

Ghost Types

The Different Types of Ghosts

Haunted Places

Cemetery Folklore

Writing a Ghost Story

Tips for Writing Ghost Stories

Ghost Cliches

Horror Cliches

ZOMBIES

The Science of Zombies

Zombie Biology

Zombie Sociology

Zombie Myths

Stage II and Stage III Zombies (pictures)

Vampires vs Zombies

Undead Creatures

Zombies

Guide on Zombies

SHAPE SHIFTERS AND HOMINIDS

Werewolves and other were-beasts

The Shape Shifting Process

Shape Shifters

Hominids of the World

Werewolf Myths

Science of Werewolves

Werewolf Behavior

Werewolves vs Vampires vs Zombies

Werewolf Anatomy

Wolf Body Language

Lycanthropy

Werewolf Myths and Truths

History of the Werewolf Legend

SEA CREATURES

The Mermaid

Sea Creatures

Books About Mermaids and Sea Folklore

Sea Creatures: Books

YA Mermaid Novels

Best Mermaid Books

Awesome Mermaid Books

Mermaid Anatomy

A Dissection of Mermaid Anatomy

VAMPIRES

African Vampires

Writing the A-Typical Vampire

So You Want to Write a Vampire Novel

Avoiding Vampire Cliches

Vampire Cliches

Vampire Burial

Vampire Mythology

Vampire Biology

Vampire Virology

Vampire Sociology

Vampires in Folklore and Literature

AVIAN CREATURES

Underused Bird Mythologies

FAIRIES AND FAE

Types of Faeries A-Z

A Guide to Fairies

Other Names for Fairies

Books About Faery

Best YA Fairy Books

Best YA Fantasy Series About the Fae

ANGELS AND DEMONS

A Glory of Angels

Angels and Demons Resource Post

Do You Give Angels Flaws or Not?

Unusual Angels

More:

Creating Creepy Creatures

Mythology Meme

Master Post of World Mythology, Creatures, and Folklore

Figures of Norse Mythology

Those Who Haunt the Earth

Writing Horror, Paranormal, and Supernatural

Genre: YA Supernatural

List of Mythical Creatures

Mythological Creature Picture Spam

How to Make Your Supernatural Characters Unique

Supernatural Theme Story

Myths and Urban Legends Masterpost

Original Gods, Goddesses, and Myths

World Building Basics: Myths and Legends

Mythical Creatures and Beings

Symbols by Word

Mythology Meme

Writing Paranormal Characters into the Real World

© (c ) copyright 1990-2011 Rebecca Sinclair

See the original HERE

Uncommon Questions for OCs and their creators:

Send me a # (questions for OCs) or a letter (questions for creators) and I’ll answer

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR OCs

What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?

How easy is it for your character to laugh?

How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)

How easy is it to earn their trust?

How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?

What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling?

What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child

Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word?

What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?

What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

What animal do they fear most?

How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

What makes their stomach turn?

Are they easily embarrassed?

What embarrasses them?

What is their favorite number?

If they were asked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do so?

Why do they get up in the morning? 

How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)? 

How does envy manifest itself in them (they take what they want, they become resentful, etc)? 

 Is sex something that they’re comfortable speaking about? To whom? 

 What are their thoughts on marriage? 

 What is their preferred mode of transportation? 

 What causes them to feel dread? 

 Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth? 

 Do they usually live up to their own ideals? 

 Who do they most regret meeting? 

 Who are they the most glad to have met? 

 Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or a joke? 

 Could they be considered lazy? 

 How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? 

 How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive? 

Do they actively seek romance, or do they wait for it to fall into their lap? 

Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies, etc)? 

What memory do they revisit the most often? 

How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people? 

How sensitive are they to their own flaws?

How do they feel about children? 

How badly do they want to reach their end goal? 

If someone asked them to explain their sexuality, how would they do so? 

QUESTIONS FOR CREATORS

A) Why are you excited about this character? B) What inspired you to create them? C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story? D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you? F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)? G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most? H) What trait do you admire most? I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe? J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character?

types of kisses (part i)

wake up kisses pressed gently to the column of A’s neck or the underside of B’s jaw.

morning kisses; gentle and lazy, humming in contentment, limbs still tangled together, hands wandering over soft exposed skin.

stay in bed kisses, mischievous and deep, punctuating flirtatiously whispered bargaining words.

come back to bed kisses left on A’s neck and shoulder, unhurried and tender, with arms wrapped around A’s waist.

rushed late for work kisses, a flash of heat before hurrying out the door.

tender kisses when one brings home flowers for the other.

sticky ice cream kisses, sitting on a bench in the park and laughing against each other’s lips.

cheek kisses that leave red lipstick stains.

kisses absently left on the backs of hands, fingers entwined in silent comfort.

joyful kisses peppered across foreheads and cheeks between scattered giggles.

comforting kisses pressed to tear-stained cheeks between whispered words of reassurance and concern.

heated kisses with gasps in between, hands tugging at clothes and exploring skin, bodies pressed close. giving in.

long, slow kisses in the afterglow, fingers woven through hair and hearts beating in unison.

soft goodnight kisses exchanged on lamp-lit doorsteps on chilly autumn evenings.

a single loving kiss left on the other’s forehead when they fall asleep snuggled close together.

Writing a Character With Psychosis

If your character has psychosis, first, give yourself a pat on the back for taking a big step! Not very many people do this, and not very many people do it well. Here’s a small text post to try to help. Hallucinations:

- Auditory hallucinations can come from inside the mind, too. You can hear people calling your name, and occasionally screaming or laughing. Someone who has knowledge of their condition will try their best to ignore them.

-Voices in the head can be anything from a ‘narrator’ narrating what they do, a friend, or a manipulative enemy. Sometimes you’ll hear choruses of things–your character can try to reason with their voices, but the less human the voices sound, the harder that can be.

-Voices can be very convincing, and your character can miss them if they disappear.

-Tactile hallucinations can be anything from feeling rain when there isn’t any to someone tapping on your shoulder to working at school with someone’s ‘hands’ around your neck. They’re often the hardest to distinguish from reality.

-Seeing things can be realistic or unrealistic. You might have someone watching you the whole day, or seeing your cat when he’s actually dead, to bending down to pick a ‘pencil’ up when it disappears. Seeing things float or flickering lights can be annoying to your character. Images distorting are not uncommon.

-Your character will be annoyed by these if they have identified their hallucinations as fake. Hallucinations detract from ones life and complicate ones day.

-Delusions can last for a long time or for a short time. Your character will be afraid, and a flight or fight response will be the majority of their actions. Feeling things chasing them is common, and certain objects might bring them comfort.

-Paranoia isn’t just with psychosis. If your character is aware of their psychosis, then they will distrust everything and possibly ask other people if things are real. Nothing is definite.

-Stigma against psychosis is very common, and stigma against medicine is too. Your character will probably be afraid of telling people.

-Medicine will take more than a month sometimes to completely kick in. Sometimes while it’s kicking in, stress will make it worse.

-This post is specifically for psychosis and hallucinations/delusions. I am not educated on schizophrenia, and am not making a generalization of that.

Long story short, please do other research. The world is plagued with books that exacerbate stigma and myths. Ask people who suffer from psychosis or used to. This is not meant to be your only resource, nor it is definite for all cases. Every case of psychosis is different, and you can’t say one thing happens for everyone. Thank you for reading! TL;DR Just a resource if you want to write a character with psychosis, do other research too.

Here’s a little bit on subplots!

Here’s a tip;

Write about the things that hurt you. The things that itch just beneath your skin. About the shit inside your head that you can’t get out of your mouth, words too fragile and broken to talk about. Write and write and write it out on paper, write it away, write it from deep inside you and get it out.

Hey, guys! I’ve noticed that there are a lot of artists who struggle with “same face syndrome,” or the tendency to draw all their characters with the same face. To help you combat this, I’ve created two different challenges!

The first (pink) one is mainly geared towards artists who are struggling with same face syndrome and want to start branching out. It covers topics that a lot of artists struggle with when drawing faces, such as age, weight, and face shapes. It’s not super specific, so you still have some wiggle room.

The second (yellow) one is a bit harder and is mainly geared towards artists who want to really challenge themselves to diversify their faces. Personally, I think this one’s the most fun to work with despite it being more difficult. Chances are with this one, you’re not going to be drawing a whole bunch of beautiful people. You don’t have to roll for every option on this one either.  A certain combination of rolls from 10/13 of the options may give you a great character idea, and that’s great!

I hope you guys enjoy these! I’d love for you to send me your drawings if you do one (or both) of them.

Your daily reminder that, (when at all possible), your chapters should include: 

(a) A goal your pov character wants to achieve. (b) A conflict your pov character has to work through. 

The greater the conflict and more important the goal, the more tension the chapter will have. 

Good pacing should build from smaller, more personal goals with minor conflict towards large goals with great conflict, before dropping back to lesser goals/conflict once more, but never to a point lacking both goals and conflict.

Tips On How to Write Characters with Wings (For both fanfic writers and original content writers)

So I’ve been reading a lot of fics lately where people are either

A) Putting wings onto canon characters

B) Making OCs with wings

So I decided that, with the influx of people who are writing winged characters (and therefore the influx of errors that come with writing winged characters), I’d make a little thing to help you slap a pair of wings onto anyone!

This is also a bit personal, too, because the MC in my upcoming novel has wings!

1. Know that there are a lot of types of wings to choose from

Part of being a writer is the desire to take something (whether it be a pre-existing work or an idea in your head) and make it into your own. So, instead of just going with the classic bird wings, why not spice it up a bit? If your character is an angel, you certainly don’t have to stick to the classic depictions of angel wings. Why not give them butterfly wings or dragonfly wings?

Here’s a small list of different types of wings to choose from:

Bat wings

Beetle wings

Bird wings

Butterfly/Moth wings

Dragonfly wings

Note that these wings are for animals who can fly. There are also animals who can “fly” that actually glide, such as sugar gliders and flying squirrels.

Yeah, so the options are pretty limited, but feel free to make up your own kinds of wings that aren’t necessarily based on a pre-existing creature’s wings!

2. Be familiar with the anatomy of your character’s wings and their limits

If your wings are completely unique, draw them out. A diagram or picture is key when it comes to things like description. I’m not gonna tell you what everything does and give you Animal Wing Anatomy 101, that’s for you to research. Know that there are different types of wings and that they have different uses, strengths, and weaknesses.

3. Never use the full extent of your research! 

Surprise, surprise!

“But wait, Maddy!” you cry, writing utensil in hand and poised to stab me. “I thought we were supposed to were supposed to show our research!”

Well, you are. Technically that’s not wrong. But, readers don’t want to know ALL of it. Over-described wings are sometimes worse than under-described wings; what sucks more than not knowing what a character’s wings look like is having to look up wing anatomy in the middle of the chapter!

Only use the most basic of vocabulary when it comes to describing the parts of the wing. Most of the time, you just have to say “bat wing” or “feathery wing” and the readers get the basic idea. (Like seriously, do you think the readers know what a dactylopatagium brevis is????? It’s a part of skin on a bat’s wing btw)

4. Don’t bring your character’s wings up only when they’re needed!!!!

Unless your character’s wings can fade away when they’re not needed, wings are a 100% real, 24/7 thing! It’s bothersome when writers mention the wings in one chapter and then only bring them up when there’s a daring escape that needs to be performed! Most of the time, I forget that the characters even have wings at all!

There is also the fact that wings aren’t all pros and no cons. If they’re functional, they’re probably big, and if they’re muscular, they’re probably bulky. If your character is clumsy, they’ll probably knock things over constantly, and if they’re not clumsy, they’ll still knock things over constantly.

Your wings are two (or four, or five, or six quintillion) extra appendages; they’re a part of your character! You don’t have to spend every second reminding the readers that they’re there, but don’t go long stretches of time without even mentioning them.

5. Your character’s wings can be a good way to indicate their mood or to provide for that little bit of description that you think you make be lacking

Why wouldn’t you want to describe the wings? I mean, you don’t want to describe every minute detail over and over again, but it’ll boost your word count a lot more than you think. They can also be used to convey your character’s feelings without explicitly telling the reader! It’s like a new set of facial expressions!

See? You can tell he’s wary and ready to fight from the movement of his wings! Also he’s crouching next to a dead body but that’s not relevant right now

Here’s a list of wing language (?) that you can incorporate into your story that will not only increase your word count, but will also add to the sustenance of your story!

Nervous

Twitch

Flutter

Ripple

Fold tightly

Fidget

Flap

Angry

Flare

Bristle

Fluff up

Ripple

Beat

Raise up

Snap open

Happy

Flutter

Curl up

Ripple

Wave

Flap

During Battle

Bludgeon

Smack

Bat

Clout

Whack

Kick someone’s legs out from under them

Snap someones neck (only for muscular wings like bat and bird wings)

Problems that may come with having wings

Poke out from under blankets and let all of the cold air in

Stepped on

Get pins and needles from being folded for too long

Squashed on chairs/ in beds/ in crowded hallways

Vulnerable in battle

Molting (for bird wings)

Hope this helped!!!

“The walls looked ready to take their secrets to the grave”

“Ignore my booty.”

“Impossible, you have a glorious ass and I must worship it.”

IF YOU LOVE WRITING BUT DON’T HAVE THE INSPIRATION FOR A 10-PART BOOK SAGA YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK AT THIS SITE

IT’S INCREDIBLY HELPFUL AND CAN FOR INSTANCE GENERATE TOPICS AND FIRST LINES, CONTAINS LOADS OF EXERCISES AND YOU CAN FIND PLENTY OF WRITING TIPS.

“I need a favour.” “You know, sometimes I wonder where you’d be if I said no.”

“…are you saying no?”

I never say no to you. Their jaw clenched. “What’s the favour?” they asked instead.

“Oh my god, you’re adorable.” “I wish you’d stop calling me that.” “What - adorable?” Their brow furrowed in confusion.  “Yeah. Like, I don’t know. It’s so babyish.” 

“You know adorable doesn’t mean you can’t be kickass, right? You could conquer a kingdom and I’d still find you cute.” They meant it sweetly, lovingly, reaching out a hand to draw her closer. She jerked away with a fresh bolt of anger even when they knew it was ill deserved - because, yeah, that was exactly the problem. 

Just once, it would have been nice to beautiful, or powerful, or breath-taking instead of something that made her think of kittens and bunny rabbits. Why did everything small have to be fucking cute?

“Why do teenagers go so hardcore at everything?”

“Because they’re forced to go through highschool during one of the most sensitive parts of the brain’s development, which makes everything seem like a never-ending nightmare. It’s a defense mechanism.”

“people think doing magick is all dignified and shit, but yesterday I threw a hotdog onto the ground and shrieked wordlessly at it to cast a curse.”

“You’re mine.”

“Do you promise?” It was a foolish, needy question and it embarrassed them as soon as it came out. “Forever?”

“Oh,” the demon cupped their cheek. “Always.”